Trolley switch



April 12,1927.

J. J. RUDDICK TROLLEY SWITCH Filed June 28. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnvenTcm John Q). RuddicK 1,624, 12 Apnl 1927' J. J. RUDDICK 0 TROLLEY SWITCH invenTor. John \J. Ruddic K byWMA M ATTys.

.April 12, 1927. 1,624,012

J. J. RUDDICK TROLLEY SWITCH Filed June 2 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig- 4. 1s

lnvenTor.

John J. RuddiCK by/m/wl Mix W ATTys.

Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

JOHN J. seamen, or wear semen, li'iASSACEUSETTS.

TROLLEY swrrcri.

Application filed June 28,

This invention relates to trolley witches sucl as are used in electric railwa; systems. These switches are usually asioci. ted with the trolley wire and are actuated by a passing trolley wheel and they may be utilized for closing a signalling circuit or circuit which controls atrack switch. The invention relates particularly to trolley switches of the type having a depending swingable contact member adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley wheel and the trolley-actuated movement of which operates a circuitclosing contact by w i'ch a circuit of the signalling mechanism or of the track switch is closed.

One of the objects oi the present invention to provide an improved trolley switch of this type in which the swinging contact member is relatively light in weight and, therefore, has a correspondingly small inertia. An advantage resulting from this structure is that the danger of breakage oipartsdue to the contact member being struck by a rapidly moving trolley wheel very much reduced.

In trolley switches of this type it is desirable to provide some means whereby the circuit-closing contact will be retained in posit-ion to close the circuit for a predetermined length of time after the contacter has been engaged by the trolley wheel so as to malre certain that whenever the circuit is closed by a passing trolley wheel it will remain closed su'fiiciently long to set the signal or shift the switch or perform any other desired function.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved timing device which is so constructed as to allow a rapid swinging movement of the contacter for closing the switch such as would result from the contacter being struck by a rapidly moving trolley wheel but will operate to retard-the return movement of the swinging contacter thereby, maintaining the' circuit closed for the desirable predetermined length of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction which permits the swinging pendulum to have a movement considerably greater than that necessary to close the circuit so that whenever said pendulum is struck by a moving trolley it can have as r at a movement as necessary to absofl') the npact.

1923-. Serial No. 548,250.

Other objects of my invention are to im-' prove generally trolley switches in the particulars more fully hereinafter set forth;

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a trolley switch embodying my invention showing the enclosing casing in section;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1 with the casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line i Fig. 8 showing the parts in the position they assume when the contacter is engaged by a trolley wheel;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View of the locking detent.

In the drawings I have shown in dotted lines at 1' a portion of a trolley wire and at 2- liave illustrated a. trolley wheel which, it may be assumed. is travelling along tiie wire in the direction of the arrow.

The operative parts of the trolley switch are mounted on abase or frame 3 which is supported on posts 4: rising from and secured to the trolley wire 1.-

5 indicates the circuit which is closed by the trolley switch, said circuit leading to the signal-actuating mechanisnn or to the track switch or any other apparatus which is to be controlled by the trolley switch. This circuit wire 5 is connected to a contact 6 which is insulated from the base 3 by being supported on ablock 7 of insulating material. The circuit is closed by means of a circuit-closing contact 8 which is pivoted at 9 to a bracket 10 rising from the base 3. The contact 8 is normally held in its open position separated from the contact 6 by means 01"? a spring 11'.

The contact 8 e with the trolley wire 1 i and,- therefore. when a into engagement with the contact '3 the 1 cuit- 5 will be closed and will be connected to the trolley wire 1 so that current will iiow from the trolley wire through the circuit wire 5 to the device to be actuated.

The circuit-closing contact 8 is actuated to close the circuit through the movement of ill a depending swingable contacter 12 which is adapted to be engaged by the trolley wheel 2 as shown in Fig. 1. This contacter 12 is illustrated as rigid with and depending from a rock shaft 13 which is journalled in the frame 3 and I will preferably make the contacter of fibre or some other material which is relatively light in weight thereby reducing the inertia of said member. Fast on the rock shaft 13 is a gear 14 which meshes with a larger gear 15 that is fast on a rock shaft 16 also journalled in the frame. The gear 15 constitutes the actuator for giving oper ative movement of theswitch-closing contact 8. This gear is formed with a projection 17 adapted to engage a toe 18 on the end of the switch-closing contact 8, the parts being so constructed that when they are in their normal position with the pendulum contacter 12 hanging vertically the toe 18 will be situated beneath the projection 17. Vhen the gear 15 is turned anti-clockwise into the position shown in Fig. 4 the engagement of the projection 17 with the toe l8 locks the contact 8 and closes it against the contact 6 thereby closing the circuit 5.

The projection 17 is formed at the end of a rib 19 which has a concentric outer face situated so that it serves to lock the contact 8 in its closed relation with the contact 6 during any further turning movement of the gear 15 in the direction of the arrow Fig. 4 and until said gear has returned to its normal position shown in Fig. 1. in Fig. 4c the contactor 12 is shown as just wiping over the trolley wheel but if the trolley wheel is moving rapidly when it engages the contacter the impact may swing the contacter into the dotted line position Fig. 4.- or even considerably further. The gear wheel 15 is much larger than the pinion 14 so that even if the pinion 14L makes a complete rotation or more the larger gear wheel 15 will only make a partial rotation. During the entire turning movement of the gem wheel 15 due to the forward swinging mov ment of the pendulum 12 the rib 19 engages the toe 18 and thus holds the contact 8 closed against the contact 6.

The frame or housing 3 is formed with a chamber 98 of a size to permit the pendulum 12 to make a con'iplete rotation and the rclative size of the gears 11 and 15 is such that said pendulum may make more than a complete rotation. without turning the gear wheel 15 more than half a revolution. This is ample to allow for any excess movement which the pendulum may have due to being hit by a rapidly moving trolley.

The rib 19 not only holds the contacts closed during the vertical turning movement of the wheel 15 but also holds them closed until the gear 15 returns to its normal position. This gear 15 which constitutes the actuator for the circuit-closing contact 8, is acted on by a spring which normally tends to maintain it in its neutral position shown in Fig. 1. This spring is herein shown at and is in the form of a coil spring mounted on a rod 21, one end of which is slidably mounted in a post 22 car ried by the frame and the other end of which is pivotally connected at 25 to a swinging arm 2% which in turn is pivoted to the frame t 25. This arm 24 is connected to the gear 15 by the link 26, the latter being pivotally Spnnectepl to the gear near its periphery as onown a L' 2:

The spring 20 bears at one end against a collar 28 rigid with the rod 21 and at its other end bears against a base or abutment 22. The resiliency of the spring, therefore, tends to bring the parts into the position shown in Fig. 1 with the pivotal point 27 on adead center.

The turning of the gear 15 in the direction of the arrow Fig. 4. will operate through the link 26 to swing the lever 24 to the right thereby placing the spring 20 under compression. wheel with the contacter 12, therefore,'tnrns the gear 15 and stores up energy in the spring 20 and as soon as the trolley has passed the contacter 12 and the force of the impact of the trolley wheel against the contacter has been spent the spring 20 will tend to return the parts to their normal position shown in Fig. 1. I

As stated above it is desirable that some means he provided whereby when the circuit 5 has been closed by the engagement of a trolley wheel with the contacter 12 said circuit shall remain closed for a suflicient length of time to ensure that the signal or the track switch will be properly actuated and inasmuch as the spring 20 tends to return the gear 15 quickly to its normal position in which the circuit-closing contact 8 is opened away from the contact 6 I have provided a retarding device which functions to retard the return movement of the gear 15. This'retarding device is constructed so that while it functions to retard the return movement of the gear 15 yet it will permit of a quick forward movement of the con tacter 12 and the gear 15, such as would result from the engagement of the contacter with a rapidly inoving trolley wheel.

The retarding device herein shown is in the form of an escapement which is frictionally connected to the rock shaft 13. This escapement comprises the escapement wheel 29 loosely mounted on the rock shaft 13 and having teeth'BS and an escapement member 30 pivoted at 81 and provided with teeth 32 which co-operate with the teeth 33. The escapement member is so constructed that as the wheel 29 is turned the escapement member 30 will be given a rocking movement so that the teeth 32 thereof will alternately en- The engagement of the trolley gage the teeth of the escapement wheel in a manner similar to that in which escapements usually work.

As stated above the escapement wheel 29 is fric tiona lly connected to the shaft 13 and for this purpose said wheel is retained be tween a collar 34 fast on said shaft and friction fingers 35 rotatable with the shaft and bearing against a friction surface 36 formedon the wheel 29. The spring fingers 35 are secured to a collar 37 which is splined to the shaft and is acted on by a spring 38 that holds the fingers 35 yieldingly against the friction surface 36. When the contacter '2 is given a sudden impact the friction fingers 35 slip on the surface 36 and allow the shaft 1 3 to turn without turning the cscapement wheel 29 but when the force of the impact has been spent and the spring 20 comes into action to return the parts to normal position the friction between the fingers and the friction surface 36 rotates the escapenient wheel 29 with the shaft 13 and thus actuates the escapement, the latter functioning to retard the return movement of the parts.

This friction device, therefore, allows the pendulum member 12 and wheel 15 to move quickly under the impact of the trolley wheel but retards the return movement so as to maintain the contacts 6 and 8 closed for a suficicnt length of time to ensure that the device which is controlled by the trolley switch will function properly.

The device shown in Fig. 4 is constructed with the swinging pairs of contacts 6 and 8 so that it will operate to close the circuit only when actuated by a trolley wheel mov ing in the direction of the arrow.

1 may, if desired, construct the device so that it will close a circuit when the member 12 is swung in either direction. This is accomplished by providing a second pair of contacts 6, 8' corresponding to the contacts 6, 8, the contact 6 being a stationary con tact mounted on an insulating block 7 and the contact 8 being pivoted to the frame at 9. The contact 8 is provided with a toe 18 which is operated by a projection 17 carried by the actuating wheel 15 and where this construction is employed I propose to make the rib 19 of sufficient extent to extend from the projection 17 to thep'rojection 17. The Contact 6 is shown as connected to a circuit wire 5. With this arrangement the circuit 5 will beclosedwhenever the member 12 is struck by a trolley whee-l moving in the direction: of the arrow Fig. 1 and the circuit 5 will be closed when the member 12 is actuated by a trolley wheel moving in the opposite direction.

I have also provided herein a' locking detent to hold the actuating wheel 15 in its neutral position shown in Fig.1. This detent is illustrated at 39 and ispivoted to the frame at 40, said detent having a notch 41 to receive a roll 42 carried by the wheel 15 hen the wheel 15 is turned by the member 12 in the direction of the arrow Fig. 5 which corresponds to the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, the roll will be carried out of the notch 41 and will move over the curved face 43 of the detent. Said detent is acted on by a spring whicl-rl'iold's it yiel'dingly against the roll 42. The relative position of the notch 41 and roll 42 is such that when the wheel 15 in its normal or neutral position said roll will occupy the notch and, therefore, as the parts return to normal position the roll will drop into the notch when it comes into alignment therewith and will thus yieldingly hold the actuating wheel 15 in the position shown in Fig. 1. The notch 41 and roll 42 also function as means for ensuring that the wheel 15 will come to rest at the proper position.

if desired, I may employ a second roll 45 situated to engage the end of the detent 39 thus doubly insuring that the wheel will be brought to rest in its central position. This additional roll 45, however, can be used only with the device illustrated in Fig. 4- in whiclr a single pair of contacts is employed for where the double switch illus trated in Fig. l is used, it is necessary that the wheel 15 should be able to rotate in either direction from its central or neutral position.

I claim:

1.111 a trolley switch, the combination with a trolley-actuated pendulum member, of a circuit-closing contact, operative connections between said pendulum member and contact by which a trolley-actuated movement of the former gives the latter a circuit-closing movement, and an escapement device frictionally connected to said connections and constructedto permit a quick trolley-actuated movement of the pendulum member while retarding the return movement thereof.

2. In a trolley switch, the combination with a pendulum member adapted to be s-wung by a passing trolley, of a circuit-clos ing. contact, a rotary contact actuating memberconnected to the pendulum member and constructed so that the necessary turning movement of said actuating member from a neutral position gives the contact its circuitclosing. movement and} continued turning movement of said actuating member maintains the contact closed, a spring to return the actuating member to neutral position, and an escapementdevice frictionally connected to said actuating member and permitting a rapid trolley-actuated movement of the actuating member but functioning to retard the return movement thereof.

3. in a trolley switch, the combination tat! lit;

ill

with a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley, of a circuit-closing contact, a rotary contact-actuating member geared to the rock shaft to be actuated thereby, a spring operatively connected to said member and tending to maintain it in neutral position, and an escapement device frictionally connected to the rock shaft and operating to permit a quick trolley-actuated movement thereof but to retard the return movement.

a. In a device of the class described, the combination with a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley wheel, of a pivoted circuit-closing contact, a rotary contactactuating member cared to the rock shaft to be actuated thereby, said actuating member operating during its initial rotary movement to give the contact its circuit-closing movement and during further rotary movement thereof to hold said contact closed, a spring operatively connected to said actuating member to return it to neutral position, and an escapement device frictionally connected to the rock shaft and operating to retard the return movement thereof.

5. In a trolley switch, the combination with a light weight pendulum member adapted to be actuated by a passing trolley wheel, of a circuit-closing contact, operative connections between said pendulum member and contact by which the trolley-actuated movement of the former gives the latter its circuit-closing movement, a spring for returning the pendulum member to normal position, and an escapement device frictionally connected to said connections and permitting a quick trolley-actuated movement of the pendulum member while retarding the return movement thereof.

6. In a trolley switch, the combination with a trolley-actuated pendulum member, of a circuit-closing contact and operative connections between said pendulum member and the circuit-closing contact by wlhich swinging movement of the former gives a circuit-closing movement to the contact, and an escapement device frictionally connected to said connections and which permits a quick trolley-actuated movement of the pendulum member through a distance considerably greater than necessary to close the contact but which retards the return movement of the pendulum member.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley wheel, of a piv oted circuit-closing contact, a rotary contactactuating member having gear teeth, a gear on said shaft meshing with the gear teeth, said gear having a considerably smaller radius than the contact-actuating member, the latter during its initial rotary movement giving the contact its circuit-closing movement and during further rotary movement holding the contact closed, a spring to return the actuating member to normal position and means frictienally connected to said gear to retard the return movement thereof, the relative size of the gear and actuating member permitting the pendulum to have a wide range of trolley-actuating movement.

8. In a trolley switch, the combination with a pendulum member adapted to be swung by a passing trolley, of a circuitclosing contact, a rotary contact-actuating member connected to the pendulum member constructed so that the necessary tarning movement of said actuating member from a neutral position gives the contact its circuitclosing movement and continued turning movement of said actuating member maintains the contact closed, a spring to return the actuating member to neutral position, and a yielding positioning device to retain the actuating member in neutral position.

9. In a trolley switch, the combination with a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley wheel, of a movable circuitclosing contact, a rotary contact-actuating member geared to the rock shaft to be actuated the shy, said actuating member operating during its initial rotary movement to give the contact its circuit-closing movement and during further rotary movement thereof to hold said contact closed, a spring operatively connected to said actuating member to return it to neutral position, and means acting in opposition to the spring to retard the spring-actuated return movement of the actuating member while permitting a quick forward movement.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination with a' rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley wheel, of a pinlon on said rock shaft, a pivoted circuitclosing contact, a rotary contact-actuating member having gear teeth meshing with the pinion, the latter having a smaller radius than the contact-actuating member, whereby said actuating member will have a less angu lar movement than the rock shaft, said con tact-actuating member operating during the initial movement given to it by a trolley wheel striking said arm to give the contact its circuit-closing movement and operating during continued rotation to hold the contact closed, a spring to return the actuating member to normal position. and means to retard said return movement.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination with a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley wheel, of a pinion fast on said rock shaft, a pivoted circuit-closing contact, a rotary contact-actuatlie ing member having gear teeth meshing With said pinion, said contact-actuating member having a concentric rib Which co-operates With the contact to give the latter its circuitclosing movement during the initial movement of the contact-actuating member and to hold the contact closed during further movement thereof.

12. In a device of thc'class described, the combination With a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley Wheel, of a pinion fast on said rock shaft, a pivoted circuit-closing contact, a. rotary contact-actuating member having gear teeth meshing with said pinion, said contact-actuating member having a concentric rib Which co-operates with the contact to give the latter its circuitclosing movement during the initial movement of the contact-actuating member and to hold the contact closed during further movement thereof, a spring to return the contact-actuating member to neutral position, and means to retard the return movement thereof.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination With a rock shaft having an arm depending therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a passing trolley Wheel, of a pinion fast on said rock shaft, a pivoted circuitclosing contact, a rotary contact-actuating member having gear teeth meshing With said pinion, said contact-actuating member hav ing a concentric rib Which co-operates with he contact to give the latter its circuitclosing movement during the initial movement of the contactactuating member and to hold the contact closed during further movement thereof, a spring to return the contact-actuating member to neutral position, and an escap'ement device frictionally connected to said rock shaft to retard the return movement thereof.

, In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN J. RUDDIOK. 

